We have just arrived home from our autumnal Algonquin Park adventure! Here’s the highlights, set to a song I composed called “When All Is Won”.
But first: my funny woodcock video is making people smile lately. Enjoy!
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September and October Algonquin Park Adventures
I made a video compilation of my two Algonquin Park trips in September and October! We were lucky to see a variety of wildlife and have some very cool encounters. The music in this video was written/sang/produced by me — if you like it, check out my youtube for many more songs!
[Poem] Two Sides of the Same Coin
You were a mute Hamlet, pacing
the bridge, your stage shaking
from the violence
of an ice jam beneath. You heard
a man drowned
in the black river yesterday, taken
by the whim of a Spring
too eager to live.
You held a quarter like Yorick’s skull, tossing
it to the question To be, or not to be,
while the ice screamed
obscenities
as if to mock your acting.
When the coin spun out and tumbled
out of reach, you didn’t move.
You were numb, you watched
as if beheaded
while a woman bent to retrieve
your lost verdict. She must have seen
your silent monologue;
she must have known
the coin’s value was life and death.
She rubbed the quarter’s edge, raised
an eyebrow, and offered
it back to you, saying,
“A coin has three sides, you know.”
You felt like falling.
You felt you’d already died
and gone somewhere you’d never seen.
Set free, for once, to choose
anything and everything,
something somehow between
the laughter and the tears.
Algonquin Porcupine!
Life Orbits a Hopeful Star
Willow and I are once again in Algonquin and something truly magical happened today. Back in June we had found a fox den with kits and got video and photos of two kits playing with mama. When we went back the next day, we were very upset to find those two kits had been both struck by a vehicle and killed. Willow always feels strongly moved to pull animal carcasses away from the road so other animals scavenging on them won’t also be hit by a car. It isn’t an easy thing for her to do, but she feels it is her duty.
Now in September, we went back to the den and found lots of signs of wildlife and a completely cleanly eaten/decayed animal which we determined from the skull size and fur colour was a baby fox. Maybe even the very one Willow moved off the road. One bone was particularly clean and white, so in honor of those sweet kits, Willow took the bone and plans to make a necklace with it, something in braided leather maybe.
It was just so right, somehow. It felt like a tremendous gift and lifted the sorrow of seeing those kits lifeless — for life is held aloft entirely by cycles. And to honor those kits with the bone is our gift too.
Singing in the Car
I love singing — just playing around really, not taking it too seriously. I recorded this in the car while Willow was in Canadian Tire. 
“When the Party’s Over”
The Spirit of Algonquin
At the end of April we went to Algonquin Park and enjoyed a beautiful time of wildlife viewing. It means a lot to me to connect with nature and animals, so when I saw a moose get spooked by a loud truck, I instinctively put out my arm and said, “It’s okay.” The moose had abruptly moved to bolt, but now stopped instead to gaze at me, and then went back to drinking from a little stream. It was an amazing feeling.
Here is a video compilation of the trip’s highlights, with music composed by me.
New Album: When the Ravenmaster Calls
I’ve just released my first album, When the Ravenmaster Calls, on Bandcamp! It’s free to download and contains nine of my favourite cinematic, instrumental rock songs that I’ve recently composed. Please consider following me on Bandcamp here:
When All is Won [Original Music]
Once in a while I manage to create something I really like. It’s a good feeling — it’s what keeps me going.
Mystery is Bliss [Original Music]
I put a lot of work into this new song — and I’m still not completely thrilled with it, but it’s definitely interesting.
Where Spirit Stops 